Deutschland über alles?: The National Anthem Debate in the Federal Republic of Germany

Abstract

Languages evolve, and through the negotiations of public discourse, particular phrases acquire connotations and meanings beyond their grammatical structure. Occasionally, the meanings become contested and the resultant debate can be politically charged. The struggle to define language is fundamentally a struggle for power. This explains the current concerns of the French government to protect the French language from anglicisms. In recent years, the United States has become embroiled in debates over interpretations of the Constitution. Should our reconstruction of the eighteenth-century intent of the authors be the standard or should we reinterpret the language in the spirit of our present day context? The answer is fundamentally a political one. Perhaps nowhere has language been more highly contested than in postwar West Germany.